| "These Are My Twisted Words" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRadiohead | ||||
| Released | 17 August 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:31 | |||
| Label | Self-released | |||
| Songwriter | Radiohead | |||
| Producer | Nigel Godrich | |||
| Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"These Are My Twisted Words" is a song by the English rock bandRadiohead. It was released viaBitTorrent on 12 August 2009, possibly by Radiohead. On 17 August, Radiohead released it as a freedownload on their website. Several critics likened the song tokrautrock.
On 12 August 2009, "These Are My Twisted Words" appeared unannounced onWhat.CD, aBitTorrent tracker.[1] A text file included in thetorrent file containedASCII art, a cryptic poem and a reference to a release date of 17 August.[2] Commentators including theGuardian andRolling Stone speculated that Radiohead had leaked the song themselves following the unconventionalpay-what-you-want release of their 2007 albumIn Rainbows.[3][4]
On 17 August, Radiohead released "These Are My Twisted Words" as a freedownload from their website and through a torrent file hosted byMininova.[5] The download included several pieces of artwork by Yorke and the longtime Radiohead collaboratorStanley Donwood, with the suggestion to print them ontracing paper.[5] In a blog post announcing the song, the guitaristJonny Greenwood said it had been recently completed and made no mention of the leak.[5] Radiohead performed "These Are My Twisted Words" on their 2012King of Limbs tour.[1]
The text file included in the original torrent contained the phrase "Wall of Ice", triggering speculation that it was the title of an upcoming Radiohead EP.[6] The phrase "wall of eyes" later appeared in promotional materials for Radiohead's next album,The King of Limbs (2011).[7] More than a decade later, the titleWall of Eyes was used for an album by the Radiohead side projectthe Smile.[8][6]
"These Are My Twisted Words" is composed in a5
4time signature.[9] It opens with amotorik beat from the drummer,Philip Selway, before Yorke's vocal enters.[10][11] Daniel Kreps ofRolling Stone noted akrautrock influence and likened the song to theIn Rainbows track "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi".[4] Bill Bradley ofVanity Fair said it had a "signature eerie Radiohead sound".[12] Matthew Schnipper ofThe Fader described it as a "simple song" with "a plodding, stubborn forward spirit".[11]
Brian Parks ofPopMatters gave "These Are My Twisted Words" seven out of ten, describing it as "the most recent in a long line of unconventionally beautiful songs for which Radiohead is renowned".[13] Bradley ofVanity Fair wrote that "all the converted" would like the song.[12] However, Ryan Dombal ofPitchfork wrote that its "nauseous guitars, featherweight motorik beat and vaguely whiny lyrics almost read as parody" and concluded that it "isn't as enticing as its method of distribution".[10] In 2016,Rolling Stone included "These Are My Twisted Words" on its list of "20 insanely great Radiohead songs only hardcore fans know".[1]
